Security, availability and efficiency have emerged as the top requirements that are imposed on embedded computing projects. By applying a combination of advanced technology and iesy™ project management the south westphalian company ies made a significant contribution to improving flight safety at Deutsche Flugsicherung (DFS).
Quality is one of the top aspects that customers require when it comes to product and service decisions, especially for solutions where matters of life and death are involved. In these cases a high demand on the quality turns into a quality requirement, which can be at best expressed in international standards, or perceived as part of the business culture of a company. Therefore, it is no surprise that the Chairman of the Board of DFS Deutsche Flugsicherung GmbH, Prof. Klaus-Dieter Scheurle clarifies its own demands accordingly: "Safety, punctuality and efficiency are a must for our company." All people, systems, processes and suppliers must submit to this obligation. The customer requirements were correspondingly high for the development of the next generation of the Position Logging system (PoLo), which is used throughout all air traffic controller workstations at DFS and without which no other system can be used. One of the main tasks of PoLo is to sign on and off employees at their workstations as well as to log and record their activities, monitor the strict rules on working hours and responsibilities and to ensure compliance. For example, it must be ensured that only users authenticated for a specific task are allowed to sign on at that working space and at the same time it must be ensured that an employee has not simultaneously logged on to another air traffic control workstation. Simply put PoLo is a freely configurable system for air traffic controllers to electronically log their activities where employees can easily sign on and off using their corporate ID cards. In the background, the permissions are automatically checked and all the activities are recorded. A supervisor may view all the information in real time just at a glance. All in all the position logging system contributes significantly to a particularly high degree of safety in air traffic and is an integral part of a modern and efficient air traffic control where intelligent systems minimize the workload of air traffic controllers and help ensuring a smooth workflow in a complex environment.
For the new development of PoLo devices for DFS with prototyping and subsequent production, the project was put out to tender accross Europe and tied to a three-year framework agreement. While the entire tendering process took about 12 months until the award of the contract, just six months were provided for the development and delivery of the new PoLo generation. A short period of time if you take into account the high requirements of security, availability and efficiency that were required by DFS. As is the case with the technical requirements, the tendering was focussed on. Just the list of required hardware components and dimensions, in conjunction with the software requirements, posed a challenge. "That’s the kind of tasks we are looking for," says Martin Steger, Managing Director of ies GmbH & Co. KG which triumphed ahead of numerous competitors in securing the contract. "We have the necessary expertise across all stages, ranging from planning through development to production and support, to inspire when it comes to safety, availability and efficiency. The enthusiasm has rubbed off on our client, as we know from personal feedback of the responsible project leader at DFS." But what is behind the success of the project? A glimpse behind the scenes of ies reveals that it is primarily optimum processes in conjunction with broad know-how and a consistent quality management, which ensure perfection down to the very detail. At ies this process is called "iesy™ Project Management" and is a synonym for highest quality combined with a short project duration. It has its start in the bidding phase, where all requests that derive from the specifications are being compressed and adequately specified. As a result, the bidding phase thus results not only in pure figures, but a tangible idea for the implementation process, including first 3D renderings of the electronic modules or the future solution. This also applies to technical solutions, such as the optical sensor to activate the RFID card reader, which elegantly integrates into the design of the housing. Due to the high level of detail in the proposal phase, tangible solutions can be persecuted and first BOMs can already be calculated, even if there will be changes throughout the project. With regard to the finished product, this provides a much higher planning reliabillity, especially compliance with standards for EMC and product safety may already be involved. Furthermore it offers a largely secured estimate in terms of the cost of production.
A dedicated time & task scheduling for hard- and software development could thus be derived already at the time of order. In particular, the RFID card reader posed a special challenge. In order not to disturb the other, highly sensitive devices that are installed in the immediate vicinity of PoLo, the RFID reader is activated only for a short period of time when the motion sensor detects activity in the vicinity. Therefore, a special fine tuning was necessary, to only trigger the sensor when a card is placed on the intended spot on the surface and not when a person moves in front of the device or uses other panels in the environment. A positive side effect of this solution is the reduced power consumption, which is clearly noticeable in the number of installed devices and the continuous operation of PoLo. Considering the small size and the requirements for long-term availability and performance, every detail had to fit in the development of hard- and software – also because of the short duration of time up to the delivery of the devices. In order to achieve maximum performance in a compact design a standardized Qseven™ embedded computer module of congatec was chosen. ies developed a base board that was tailored to meet the requirements of the overall device as well as an orthogonally oriented interface board which leads out all interfaces from the device without the use of unreliable cable assemblies. This technically proven approach shortens the development time required compared to a complete custom development and also minimizes the development risks for the project considerably. More than 80 custom development projects in the area of embedded computing, that were implemented by the iesy™ approach in recent years prove how successful this approach is.
All the hardware including touch screen is controlled by a customized embedded Linux for Freescale i.MX6. Drivers for the touch controller and the RFID reader have been specifically developed and optimized. The software development team put a particular emphasis on the software components and libraries that were required by the customer to achieve maximum performance and support for the overall system as well as reduced power consumption. All functionalities were already available throughout the prototyping phase and could thus be tested extensively. The final implementation of all components, as well as an extensive testing as part of the total quality management approach, on which is the iesy™ project management is based, round off the project. The consistent use of standardized components and their individual adaptation to customer needs laid the foundation for the timely delivery of the new PoLo generation. What made the project a success story was the fact that all processes were subjected to a strict quality management from beginning to end to meet both the safety requirements as well as the quality requirements of the customer. With the delivery of the finished products, however, the TQM approach behind iesy™ Project Management does not end. Rather, the support findings are used to gather new information for future device generations and make them available for other projects. This way, several objectives are achieved simultaneously, which are extremely important for customers and become even more important in future: reduction of throughput times (faster time-to-market), reduction of cost (efficiency) and quality assurance.
Quality is one of the top aspects that customers require when it comes to product and service decisions, especially for solutions where matters of life and death are involved. In these cases a high demand on the quality turns into a quality requirement, which can be at best expressed in international standards, or perceived as part of the business culture of a company. Therefore, it is no surprise that the Chairman of the Board of DFS Deutsche Flugsicherung GmbH, Prof. Klaus-Dieter Scheurle clarifies its own demands accordingly: "Safety, punctuality and efficiency are a must for our company." All people, systems, processes and suppliers must submit to this obligation. The customer requirements were correspondingly high for the development of the next generation of the Position Logging system (PoLo), which is used throughout all air traffic controller workstations at DFS and without which no other system can be used. One of the main tasks of PoLo is to sign on and off employees at their workstations as well as to log and record their activities, monitor the strict rules on working hours and responsibilities and to ensure compliance. For example, it must be ensured that only users authenticated for a specific task are allowed to sign on at that working space and at the same time it must be ensured that an employee has not simultaneously logged on to another air traffic control workstation. Simply put PoLo is a freely configurable system for air traffic controllers to electronically log their activities where employees can easily sign on and off using their corporate ID cards. In the background, the permissions are automatically checked and all the activities are recorded. A supervisor may view all the information in real time just at a glance. All in all the position logging system contributes significantly to a particularly high degree of safety in air traffic and is an integral part of a modern and efficient air traffic control where intelligent systems minimize the workload of air traffic controllers and help ensuring a smooth workflow in a complex environment.
For the new development of PoLo devices for DFS with prototyping and subsequent production, the project was put out to tender accross Europe and tied to a three-year framework agreement. While the entire tendering process took about 12 months until the award of the contract, just six months were provided for the development and delivery of the new PoLo generation. A short period of time if you take into account the high requirements of security, availability and efficiency that were required by DFS. As is the case with the technical requirements, the tendering was focussed on. Just the list of required hardware components and dimensions, in conjunction with the software requirements, posed a challenge. "That’s the kind of tasks we are looking for," says Martin Steger, Managing Director of ies GmbH & Co. KG which triumphed ahead of numerous competitors in securing the contract. "We have the necessary expertise across all stages, ranging from planning through development to production and support, to inspire when it comes to safety, availability and efficiency. The enthusiasm has rubbed off on our client, as we know from personal feedback of the responsible project leader at DFS." But what is behind the success of the project? A glimpse behind the scenes of ies reveals that it is primarily optimum processes in conjunction with broad know-how and a consistent quality management, which ensure perfection down to the very detail. At ies this process is called "iesy™ Project Management" and is a synonym for highest quality combined with a short project duration. It has its start in the bidding phase, where all requests that derive from the specifications are being compressed and adequately specified. As a result, the bidding phase thus results not only in pure figures, but a tangible idea for the implementation process, including first 3D renderings of the electronic modules or the future solution. This also applies to technical solutions, such as the optical sensor to activate the RFID card reader, which elegantly integrates into the design of the housing. Due to the high level of detail in the proposal phase, tangible solutions can be persecuted and first BOMs can already be calculated, even if there will be changes throughout the project. With regard to the finished product, this provides a much higher planning reliabillity, especially compliance with standards for EMC and product safety may already be involved. Furthermore it offers a largely secured estimate in terms of the cost of production.
A dedicated time & task scheduling for hard- and software development could thus be derived already at the time of order. In particular, the RFID card reader posed a special challenge. In order not to disturb the other, highly sensitive devices that are installed in the immediate vicinity of PoLo, the RFID reader is activated only for a short period of time when the motion sensor detects activity in the vicinity. Therefore, a special fine tuning was necessary, to only trigger the sensor when a card is placed on the intended spot on the surface and not when a person moves in front of the device or uses other panels in the environment. A positive side effect of this solution is the reduced power consumption, which is clearly noticeable in the number of installed devices and the continuous operation of PoLo. Considering the small size and the requirements for long-term availability and performance, every detail had to fit in the development of hard- and software – also because of the short duration of time up to the delivery of the devices. In order to achieve maximum performance in a compact design a standardized Qseven™ embedded computer module of congatec was chosen. ies developed a base board that was tailored to meet the requirements of the overall device as well as an orthogonally oriented interface board which leads out all interfaces from the device without the use of unreliable cable assemblies. This technically proven approach shortens the development time required compared to a complete custom development and also minimizes the development risks for the project considerably. More than 80 custom development projects in the area of embedded computing, that were implemented by the iesy™ approach in recent years prove how successful this approach is.
All the hardware including touch screen is controlled by a customized embedded Linux for Freescale i.MX6. Drivers for the touch controller and the RFID reader have been specifically developed and optimized. The software development team put a particular emphasis on the software components and libraries that were required by the customer to achieve maximum performance and support for the overall system as well as reduced power consumption. All functionalities were already available throughout the prototyping phase and could thus be tested extensively. The final implementation of all components, as well as an extensive testing as part of the total quality management approach, on which is the iesy™ project management is based, round off the project. The consistent use of standardized components and their individual adaptation to customer needs laid the foundation for the timely delivery of the new PoLo generation. What made the project a success story was the fact that all processes were subjected to a strict quality management from beginning to end to meet both the safety requirements as well as the quality requirements of the customer. With the delivery of the finished products, however, the TQM approach behind iesy™ Project Management does not end. Rather, the support findings are used to gather new information for future device generations and make them available for other projects. This way, several objectives are achieved simultaneously, which are extremely important for customers and become even more important in future: reduction of throughput times (faster time-to-market), reduction of cost (efficiency) and quality assurance.
